


Sick Day

by DigiArt_Studios



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood, Sick Character, Sickfic, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-18
Updated: 2018-09-18
Packaged: 2019-07-13 19:33:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16024535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DigiArt_Studios/pseuds/DigiArt_Studios
Summary: After the revolution, androids got their freedom peacefully and now have moved on to do whatever they want.Ralph, Nate (an android they saved from Zlatko, who was stuck in a bathtub), and a few Jerrys had moved in together. Every year, the new Jericho building hosts a reunion party for the large group of androids that have met eachother to see eachother again and catch up. Nate and Jerry were getting ready to leave when they noticed Ralph hadn't had waken up yet.





	Sick Day

Nate circled around the kitchen table, his hands were behind his back and he stared down at the reflective tiled floor. "Are you alright?" Jerry asked, sitting in on of the chairs, perked up and looking energetic as always. "Yes, yes! I am fine, yes!" Nate answered, speeding up his pace as his LED circled to yellow. "You sure about that?" Jerry asked, standing up from the table and walking over to his friend.

"Fine! I am not!" Nate growled, throwing his hands in the air dramatically. They were shaking more than usual, and his LED circled to red, but still some yellow remained. "We need to leave in 30 minutes to go see everybody! We do this every year, and we can't miss it!" Jerry calmly put his 1 remaining hand on Nate's shoulder. The frustrated android's LED returned to yelllow, before going to blue.

". . . Sorry. . . Yes, I am sorry. I just don't want to miss it. This is the first time I'm going and I just want to go, yes, yes. I just don't know what's taking Ralph so long. . ." Nate said quiety, feeling some guilt. Jerry sighed.

Last year, Jerry, Ralph, Marcus, and Kara had gone over to a mansion that owned to a man named Zlatko. The guy was horrible to android's and it's where they met Nate. He had been abused by him, being forced to obey orders, but when he failed to it once and he threw him in the bathtub and left him to shut down. They managed to fix him, or most of him. His mind is still damaged a little, causing him to become unstable with emotions every now and then, and he's still not used to his new arms.

"It's alright. We'll go wake up Ralph and help him get ready to speed up the process," Jerry said with a soft smile. Nate looked at his friend, knowing by "we" he meant himself. Nate then looked at Jerry's missing arm. There were multiple Jerrys in the house they lived in, about 8 of them, but the other 7 had already left.

"They gave me new arms, why can't they fix your's?" Nate asked, with a small smile. Jerry chuckled and patted his friend's shoulder. "Because I'm fine without it. You were missing both," Jerry answered, than walked away from Nate and up the stairs so he could wake Ralph up.

Once Jerry got to Ralph's door, he knocked about 5 times with perfect consistency. "Ralph? It's time to wake up! We need to leave and go see everyone!" Jerry said with his positive and chirpy voice. No answer nor a sound from inside the room. He knocked again, the same exact consistency with the knocks. "Ralph?" He said his friend's name louder, just to make sure he could hear. No reply. Jerry gripped the doorknob and swung the door open.

He immeadiatly walked over to Ralph's bed. He saw that the blankets were all over the place and that there was no android in them. His LED blinked yellow. _'Maybe Ralph is doing his hair?'_ Jerry thought to himself. Ralph never did his hair, except on events like today, so it would make sense. He walked to the bathroom, having a quicker pace than before.

He saw it was closed and opened it without knocking. Androids didn't use the restroom, but every now and then they would use it to check if they looked alright before going out (except Nate). There was something blocking the door. No. It was locked? Some red fought it's way into the yellow LED, replacing majority of the color. "Ralph?" Jerry called, his happy and uplifting voice gone.

He tried to open it again. He messed with the doorknob some, trying everything he could to open it. It didn't work. He couldn't hear anything from inside the bathroom, but he was sure that his friend was in there. "Ralph! We have to go!" Jerry shouted, no positivity in his voice, nor his face. There wasn't a response, until he heard shuffling from the bathroom. Ralph was definitely in there. All the yellow in Jerry's light was gone, it was just red. He backed up a few steps, then took a running start and slammed the door open.

It surprisingly stayed on its hinges.

The first thing Jerry saw was Ralph hunched over the toilet. He looked at Jerry and looked tired. Androids couldn't get tired. The next thing he noticed was thirium. Thirium was everywhere. It was on the floor it was in and _on_ the toilet, it was dripping from Ralph's mouth and falling from from his chin, and it was on his hands. Ralph's light was also red. "W-What happened?" Jerry asked, worry filling his broken coding.

"Ralph doesn't feel good. . ." Ralph said quietly, trying to sit up, but he was too shaky to, so he just slumped back over the toilet.

"What are your thirium levels at?" Jerry asked, carefully walking over to Ralph.

"45%. . ."

"Crap. . . We don't have any around right now. . ." Jerry said quietly, continuing to walk over to Ralph. Once he did, he out his hand on his back to comfort him. "Do you want to sit on the couch?" Ralph nodded weakly. He stood up, but his legs had even less strength than a twig so he fell down. Jerry caught him luckily, but Ralph still whined in pain.

"Guess you can't walk. Just- use me as support, okay?" Jerry said, positioning Ralph to where he was on his feet and had his arm draped over Jerry's shoulder. Ralph nodded again. They slowly made their way to the couch. On the way there, Jerry realized that Ralph was wearing his old coat. It hasn't been used in months, and Ralph was clinging to it with his free hand, getting some thirium on it. Ralph's steps were very slow and shaky, and he kept almost falling forward, but Jerry would manage to catch him.

After what felt like hours, they managed to get to the couch. Jerry set Ralph down gently, but it just crashed onto it like a meteor. Using what little energy he had, he curled up into a ball to try and get the pain to stop. Neither of them cared of the thirium would stain the couch. "Hurts. . ." Ralph whined, clinging his shaking hands onto the sides of his scarred and burnt arms. Jerry sighed as he looked at his weak friend.

Whenever he sees a human and can't hide, he'll try to act tough and intimidating, because the scar gives off that vibe. But threaten him and try and fight him he'll show how he really is: a sensitive android with feelings, and has been through too much, who just wants a family.

"Jerry did you-" Nate walked in, fixing his plaid shirt and froze when he saw Ralph. "Oh my god. . ." That was all he could say. He immeadiatly ran to Ralph, his arms shaking violently as he panicked. "What happened?" He shouted, his LED flashing red. Ralph didn't say anything, just continued to whimper as he desperately tried to free himself from the horrid feeling that was pain, which was something androids shouldn't even feel.

"He's sick. . . I think," Jerry answered, not taking his eyes off Ralph.

"1, androids can't get sick, and 2, WHY IS THERE THIRIUM EVERYWHERE?!" Nate shouted even louder, freaking out. Ralph curled in himself tighter at the yelling. "Loud. . ."   Nate heard him and shut up quickly.

"He's been vomiting. . ." Jerry said, lightly putting his hand on Ralph. "Can you get a bucket? I'll call Kara and tell her we can't make it," Nate nodded, feeling a little dissapointed that he couldn't go, because he never got the chance to thank anyone. Nate left, going to the downstairs bathroom to go grab a bucket. Ralph continued to whimper at the pain. Jerrys LED swirled yellow as he called Kara.

It took a few seconds before she picked up. _"Hello?"_ Kara answered. Jerry could hear the chatter of other androids in the background.

 _"Oh_ _thank_ _rA9, you answered._ _Anyway_ _, Nate, Ralph, and 1 Jerry_ _won't_ _make it to the_ _reunion_ _,"_ Jerry said.

 _"What? Why not?"_ Kara asked, obviously confused.

 _"Ralph is sick._ _Don't_ _know_ _how_ _but_ _he_ _is. We will take care of_ _him though_ _."_

 _"Oh. Well_ _tell_ _him I said_ _, 'Get well_ _soon_ _.' Sorry_ _that_ _you guys_ _couldn't_ _make it_ _."_

_"_ _It's fine_ _. Bye."_

_"Bye."_

Jerry could hear a small click as the conversation ended. He looked back at Ralph, who was now halfway dangling off the couch, with his hands barely touching the floor. Jerry frowned and took his hand off Ralph's back. "You alright?" He asked, worry completely filling his voice. "Ralph's stomach hurts. . . So does his head. . ." Ralph answered, sounding completely miserable.

"What are your thirium levels at again?"

"40%. . ." Ralph whimpered. _"_ _Dang_ _it. . . They went down. . ."_

It took about a minute before Nate came back, holding a metal bucket. He set it down in between where Ralph's arms were hanging. Ralph reacted by lightly grabbing it. "Sorry, but that was the biggest I could find," Nate said, then turned to Jerry.

"His thirium levels are at 40%." Jerry stated, looking at Nate with complete seriousness in his hazel eyes.

"Shit. . ." Nate said, crossing his shaking arms. "This is bad, yes. We don't have any thirium packs."

"I'll go get some from the store," Jerry said, standing up. He stopped when he felt Ralph's warm hand on his leg. _'Warm? No_ _they_ _were_ _extremely hot.'_

"Don't leave. . . Ralph doesn't want to be alone. . ."

Jerry looked at Ralph. The android had heat rolling off of him in waves, and was struggling to breathe. Even through Ralph's weak condition, he still managed to give his freckled friend some strong puppy dog eyes. "Cold. . ." He whined. Jerry sighed. "Nate, can you go get some thirium from a store? I don't think Ralph will let me leave," Jerry said, turning back to Nate.

Nate just nodded and left.

Jerry sighed and sat back down to Ralph, who was now shaking. "Ralph is cold. . ." Ralph repeated. Jerry put his remaining hand on his shoulder. "We know, but you're already overheating." Ralph whined in response. Jerry sighed, pulling the blanket that was hanging over the side of the couch and gently putting it over Ralph, who weakly shifted his position to where he was on his side and was clinging onto the blanket.  
~ ● ● ● ~  
"So, how many packs of thirium would you like?" The female android asked Nate, opening the cabinet behind her, revealing the blue blood packs hiding in it. Nate's LED circled yellow, as he tried to calculate how many he would need.

"Uh- 10?" Nate said, not completely sure but he wanted Ralph to be safe.

The android nodded and took 10 packs, then placing them on the counter for Nate. She specified the price, he paid, and then he swept them up in his bag. "Have a good day," he said, waving as he exited.

~ ● ● ● ~  
"Okay I'm ba- Holy shit." Nate walked in the room, noticing the thirium that was now on the couch and floor. Ralph was hunched over and sitting up, a blanket around his shoulders, and he was holding the bucket, whining in pain while shaking violently. Jerry was patting his back lightly. "Nate!" Jerry shouted when he noticed.

"I am not cleaning that up. . ." Nate responded, speed walking over to Jerry and Ralph. Nate set the bag down and rushingly opened it and took out a pouch. His arms were shaking about as much as Ralph. "What happened?" Nate asked, taking the bucket away from Ralph, who whimpered in protest, but stopped when Nate handed him the pouch.

"Ralph started to vomit again," Jerry said, watching Ralph struggle to open the pouch like a small child, then Jerry snatched it and opened it without his teeth, then handed it back to Ralph. Nate sighed. Ralph looked at Nate slowly, obviously still in lots of pain. "Ralph is sorry. . ." He quietly said, looking down and setting down the pouch. Nate's head turned to his sick and weak friend.

"For what?"

"Ralph knew that Nate really wanted to go. . . But now Nate can't because of Ralph," Ralph spoke softly and weakly. Shaking more as tears started to form.

_**[WARNING:** _ _**Thirium** _ _**Levels at 29%]** _

"Ralph. . ." Jerry interrupted, scooting closer to the android on the couch. He put his hand on Ralph's shoulder, but Ralph jerked away, which caused Jerry to bring his hand back in confusion.

"Ralph this isn't your fault," Nate stated, moving to sit on the side of the couch on the other side of Ralph. Ralph curled in on himself a little, hugging his knees and staring down. Nate noticed the pouch on the ground and handed it to him. He hesitantly accepted it.

"Hey what's this?" Jerry asked. He was digging through the pouch bag when he pulled out a small plastic succulent with beads tucked tightly in the pot. There were a few colorful beads scattered in the bag. Ralph looked at it and he had a look of pure childlike wonder and excitement on his face, ignoring the weak and pain alongside it. Nate cracked a small smile and took the plant.

"Yes, on the way back I saw this in a store, yes. I bought it for a get-well-soon gift for Ralph, yes, but **only** if he drinks the pouch," Nate said, setting it on the wooden end table (that had a few thirium drops on it), then looked back at Ralph.

Ralph thought for a moment, then nodded. He started downing the pouch of thirium blood, even though his arms were shaking he didn't spill any, and when he finished he saw a little message appear.

_**[Thirium Refilled: 95%]** _

He smiled, his headache letting up a bit, and he stopped shaking slightly. "Ralph is thankful. . ." He quietly said, looking back up at Jerry and Nate. Nate smirked and handed him the plastic plant, which Ralph immeadiatly hugged. Jerry fixed the blanket that was around Ralph to make him more comfortable. Nate's LED glowed yellow as he started quickly scanning something on the internet.

"Hey Ralph," he said.

"Hm?" Ralph said quietly, pain still tinting his voice.

"Apparently humans sleep to help with illness, yes. So maybe you could enter sleep mode for a short while?"

Ralph thought for a moment, before his LED circled yellow for the first time that day, then it eventually shut off and Ralph's eyes closed as he fell "asleep." Nate and Jerry both smiled, then decided to enter sleep mode themselves, just to keep Ralph company, even though he's unconscious.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Constructive criticism is welcome!


End file.
